Sugar Bowl Ad Battle

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Long walks on the beach or boozy strolls down
Bourbon Street? A month before the Sugar Bowl, two Gulf Coast
states are battling over which will be sweetest draw for visiting
sports fans - and some of the tactics have left a sour taste.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau ran a
radio spot during the Southeastern Conference championship game
implying that there were no hotel rooms available in New Orleans
but plenty on the Gulf Coast for the January 2nd Sugar Bowl, when
the Number 4 Crimson Tide faces Number 7 Utah.
New Orleans tourist officials are fuming at the advertisement,
which they call "false and misleading."
Mary Beth Romig, spokeswoman for the New Orleans visitors
bureau, says the Sugar Bowl is big business, bringing upward of
80,000 visitors and more than 160 million dollars in economic
impact to the Greater New Orleans area.
The Mississippi folks hope football fans will pick the beach,
the dozens of casinos, and hotel packages that frequently include
game-day shuttle service to the Louisiana Superdome.


(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)